Yellow Brick Road
by chickinterrupted
Summary: He's not in Kansas anymore. Harper's POV


Yellow Brick Road  
  
Author: Kimberley  
  
Feedback: It's my cocaine, baby! ( blue_roses_01@yahoo.com )  
  
Notes: Yeah, I know. I'm pure evil.  
  
---  
  
  
  
I'm not in Kansas anymore, that's for damn sure. Welcome to the wonderful land of Oz. Now I think about it, was I ever in Kansas in the first place? Maybe I was in Oz, and now I'm back in Kansas with Aunt Em. Or maybe I just got lost on the yellow brick road. Damned if I know, that's for certain.  
  
  
  
---  
  
  
  
Things used to be different. Seamus Harper, valuable crewmember of the Andromeda Ascendant, on a noble mission to restore peace to the galaxy, and trying (and failing) to get laid as often as I could in the process. The Andromeda needed me, and they'd do anything to get me back. They'd be busting through that door and rescuing me any second.  
  
  
  
That's what I told them when they asked. They didn't believe me; told me the Andromeda would never come for me. Tossed me in a cell and left me there. They said they'd let me out when I told the truth. They tried to break me, and I told them the truth. I told them everything, everything about the Andromeda, about her crew, our plans, the Commonwealth. Every damn thing I knew, I told them.  
  
They didn't believe me; said I was a pathological liar.  
  
  
  
They strapped me to a bed and rolled out a huge machine. Two metal plates on either side of my head, and a wire they shoved in my mouth. I had been telling them the truth, but they didn't believe me. They said this would make me tell the truth. I was terrified.  
  
  
  
Something crouched down and grabbed me, and shot through me like it was the end of the world. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeee, it shrilled, through the air crackling with blue light and my eyes were burning and with each flash, a jolt burst through me until I thought my bones would break and my blood stop flowing.  
  
  
  
"Are you ready to tell the truth now, Seamus?"  
  
  
  
---  
  
  
  
Every time they gave me shocks, I lost a little piece of myself. That frightened me, the way nothing else could. My mind, my memories, they're all I have. If I don't keep my memories, I'll lose my mind entirely.  
  
  
  
My memories. That's what keeps me going. Curled up in my cell, shaking, I think of my friends. Rommie. Beka. Trance. Tyr. Dylan. Rev Bem. They'll come for me, I know it. They'll be here soon.  
  
  
  
---  
  
  
  
I tried telling my fellow inmates about them, hoping they can help me. They didn't believe me either. Mention a purple, sparkly girl and they go running.  
  
  
  
I was there for a long time. I saw plenty of inmates come in, kicking and screaming. They didn't want to be here. They were all let out soon enough. Of course, they were crazy by the time they'd left. They had been driven crazy. It was this place; it made you crazy. Maybe it was the shocks, or the pills or the injections or the doctors wanting you to confess your sins and be cured. Maybe it was all of it. I wanted to confess my sins and be cured, but I didn't know what they wanted me to say. I told them that. The doctors said all they wanted was the truth. I told them the truth. The Andromeda. Dylan. Beka. Trance. Rommie. Tyr. They didn't believe me; said it was all in my head. The Andromeda wasn't real. The Commonwealth didn't exist. My friends were an illusion. They'd never come to rescue me.  
  
  
  
I didn't believe them, but they gave me electro-shock therapy. I lost a little piece of my mind each time. It didn't matter. My friends would still come for me. Maybe they got lost on the yellow brick road, but they'd still be coming for me. This was Oz, and I was Toto. Dorothy and the tin-man and the lion and the scarecrow would be coming. They were on the yellow brick road, coming to rescue me.  
  
  
  
---  
  
  
  
Crackling blue light, sparking the air. My bones were breaking, my body shaking with the shock.  
  
  
  
"It doesn't have to be this way, Seamus. All you have to do is tell the truth."  
  
  
  
I knew what they wanted me to say. This was Kansas, and nothing was as it seemed. The tin-man was made of tin and couldn't talk. The lion was a lion and he was cowardly. The scarecrow stayed in the farmers field. Dorothy was a cheap, two dollar hooker and Toto got hit by a truck on 73rd.  
  
  
  
I was good at faking it. I told them everything they wanted to hear. Inside, I was laughing. It was a huge secret. They were going to let me out; they thought I'd been cured. It was all in my head, I said. None of it was real. I wasn't going to lie anymore. They believed me. They didn't shock me anymore.  
  
  
  
They'll be coming for me any day now. Maybe they got lost on the yellow brick road, but they'll be here. They'll be here. In Kansas, in Oz, over the rainbow and everywhere in between. They'll be here. All they have to do is follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick, follow the yellow brick road…  
  
F I N I S 


End file.
